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. 2023 Jun;40(6):1770-1791.
doi: 10.1177/02654075221130785. Epub 2022 Nov 4.

Daily stress, family functioning and mental health among Palestinian couples in Israel during COVID-19: A moderated mediation model

Niveen M Hassan-Abbas  1
Affiliations

Daily stress, family functioning and mental health among Palestinian couples in Israel during COVID-19: A moderated mediation model

Niveen M Hassan-Abbas. J Soc Pers Relat. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic created a range of stressors, among them difficulties related to work conditions, financial changes, lack of childcare, and confinement or isolation due to social distancing. Among families and married individuals, these stressors were often expressed in additional daily hassles, with an influence on mental health. This study examined two moderated mediation models based on Bodenmann's systemic-transactional stress model. Specifically, the models tested the hypothesis that intra-dyadic stress mediates the association between extra-dyadic stress and mental health, while two measures of family functioning, cohesion and flexibility, moderate the relationship between extra and intra-dyadic stress. Participants were 480 Palestinian adults in Israel who completed self-report questionnaires. All were in opposite-sex marriages and identified as either cisgender women or cisgender men. The results showed partial mediation patterns supporting both models, indicating that family cohesion and flexibility weakened the mediating effect of intra-dyadic stress on the relationship between extra-dyadic stress and mental health. These findings increase our understanding of the variables that affected mental health during the pandemic, and suggest that when faced with extra-dyadic stress, married individuals with good family environments are less likely to experience high levels of intra-dyadic stress, which is in turn associated with preserved mental health. Limitations and implications for planning interventions for couples and families during the pandemic are discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Palestinian families in Israel; extra-dyadic stress; family cohesion and flexibility; intra-dyadic stress; mental health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Standardized Coefficients and Standard Error (SE) Values of the Moderated Mediation Models. Note. a1i = The effect of perceived extra-dyadic stress on intra-dyadic stress; a2i = The effect of family functioning (cohesion or flexibility) on intra-dyadic stress; a3i = The interaction effect of extra-dyadic and family functioning on intra-dyadic stress. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
(2a) The Association Between Extra-dyadic Stress and Intra-dyadic Stress at Low, Medium, and High Levels of Family Cohesion. (2b). The Association Between Extra-dyadic Stress and Intra-dyadic Stress at Low, Medium, and High Levels of Family Flexibility.
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